


Of Moths And Butterflies

by slacktension



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-05
Updated: 2012-07-05
Packaged: 2017-11-09 05:58:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/452118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slacktension/pseuds/slacktension
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Korra and Asami talk over fermented tea one night on Air Temple Island.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Moths And Butterflies

They sat on the porch with their backs pressed against the side of the house under the burning lanterns Korra sparked for their late night wanderings. Out in the blue dark a similar orange glow broke out from the guard tower, and if the pair of girls held still, didn’t sip from their looted bottles of fermented tea, they could catch the snappy words spilling out of the radio. It was static and out poured an unfamiliar accent, but Ba Sing Se had a pro-bending season still running, and the Gorilla Goats were winning against the Screeching Dodos. Or, they thought so-it was a little hard to hear. The sounds of moths flying into the paper sides of the lanterns above them were easier to hear than the radio from far away, surprisingly loud thumps and taps despite the small sizes of the insects.

Korra tipped her head back, free to press against the wall as her ties had been left back in her room. She wondered if the radio reception back at the South Pole had been worse for her parents and Katara; they wrote and said they listened to her matches, back when that was the most important thing on her mind. She doubted that they were able to hear with much clarity, unless they went to the compound to listen. They had their own radio tower on the premises, unlike the village that she had grown up in, where reception flew in from the tower down at the harbor. It was ok that they lied, she decided. It just meant that they cared.

Asami suddenly twitched at her side, slapping her hand against her calf. Korra glanced over at her, checking to see if she was ok, and when nothing seemed out of the ordinary, she went back to staring at the moths.

They both wore their pajamas, which really amounted to Korra’s usual shirt and her shorts-like underwear, while Asami had a matching red silk tank top and pants on that went to her knees. The older girl had her face clear of makeup and her hair down now in a tangled, frizzy mess, but it still looked like a perfect, solid mass of curls to Korra’s eyes. Asami’s newly painted nails tapped against the bottle she held in her hand before she twitched again and slapped her hand to the side of her neck, lifting it to examine before frowning.

“Do you ever just feel like you’re covered in bugs?” Asami asked, still staring at her clean palm.

Korra shrugged. “Only here. We don’t have bugs in the South Pole.”

“That sounds like heaven.”

“It is pretty nice,” Korra mumbled, taking a sip of her drink. “But I like all the life here. Even the bugs.”

Asami nodded slowly, and followed Korra’s gaze up to the moths. “Some of them are nice.”

“Yeah.”

They fell back into silence once more, the only sound being a guard accidentally getting too excited over the match on the radio, and letting out a loud  _whoop_ _!_  They stayed especially still then, shifting a bit to try and catch the match. It sounded like the makings of hat trick glory for the earthbender of the Screeching Dodos, where the set up was perfect: tired waterbender, less skilled earthbender, and impulsive firebender on the opposite team. The Screeching Dodo player-Shin or Chin, they couldn’t tell-aimed for the firebender’s legs and-

“… _shhcktzz_ _the_ _disk_ _hitsshzztkzzck_ _but_ _the_ _Gorilla_ _Goats_ _aren_ _’_ _t_ _done_ _zzzptshh Sitka_ _volleys_ _at_ _schhhhckkkkkzzzztz_ _in_ _the_ _drink_ _!”_

Asami and Korra both slumped in disappointment against the wall once more, sighing and rolling their eyes.

“Should’ve gone for the waterbender,” Asami muttered before sipping her drink.

“Right? The Ba Sing Se league is so boring.”

Asami smiled and tipped her head to Korra. “Still. A fight’s a fight.”

Korra laughed lightly and smiled back before her eyes glazed over to settle on the moths again. Another match was about to be set up, and the radio went to commercial, hawking all kinds of goods Korra had never heard of. Things even foreign to the city, or even just the same thing without the familiar Republic City Brands- _General_ _Fong_ _’_ _s_ _Instant_ _Noodles_ _?_  At least Flameo was a catchy title.

One particularly large, fuzzy moth, with thick brown wings appeared and continuously slammed into the lantern, begging and begging to draw closer to the light. Inside, Korra knew, blew a tiny flame, and she wondered what would happen to the moth if the paper lantern was gone to leave the flame exposed.

Korra sighed. “Do you ever feel like those moths?”

“Hm?”

“Do you ever feel like you want something so bad, but if you actually got it, you’d be disappointed and hurt?” Korra asked. A smaller moth managed to find the opening of the lantern and fly inside. She watched its shadow dance across the thin paper, fluttering like mad, and she hoped it didn’t get caught in the flames or even melt under the heat.

Asami hummed and Korra sensed her body slack next to her. “Maybe. I think I’m more like a butterfly.”

“Yeah?”

She took a long drink from her bottle, brought her head back, and wiped her mouth off with the back of her hand. “Yeah. Just going from pretty thing to pretty thing. Living here’s kind of made me realize that my old lifestyle was…too much. And sometimes I just feel like some pretty thing to be caught and stared at under a frame. You know?”

Korra nodded. “Sure. Just, I don’t think the pretty part applies to me.”

“You’re pretty.”

“No, I mean,” she sat up a bit straighter and frowned as she tried to formulate her words. “I’m caught and stared at because I’m the Avatar. Not because I’m pretty. I wasn’t fishing for a compliment or anything. But I still think I’m a moth.”

Asami hummed and nodded slowly. They both watched as the smaller moth managed to find the opening of the lantern again, flying out and turning around only to smack once more against the sides.

“What’s your lantern?” Asami asked slowly.

Korra shrugged. “The city. My destiny, whatever that is. I think they might be the same thing.”

“You really wanted to come here, huh?”

“Yes.”

“So you’re disappointed and hurt?”

Korra shrugged again. This time, the thick, larger moth flew into the lantern opening and it was easy to see it dart right over the tip of the flame, curving around to fly close again. It tugged at Korra’s heart and instantly, she lifted her hand and the flame died, leaving the moths stilled and hovering in the air.

She stood and pulled out the bottom of the lantern, holding the smoking wick in her hand and shaking the lantern vigorously, until finally, the moth flew out and away towards some new light. She placed the wick back and lit it once more, returning the area around them into a warm, glowing room against the dark.

She sat down and took a sip of her drink while Asami waited for her answer.

“Yes,” Korra said with a slight nod. “Yes, I am, and it’s not even because of what’s happened to me. It’s because of what’s happened to the people I’ve met here. All of it’s so unfair and my whole job is to keep things  _fair_  and _balanced_  and while I was locked up in the South Pole, everybody kept losing their parents and homes, and nobody  _told_ _me_  about it.”

Asami sighed heavily, and stared into the bottom of her bottle. There was one sip left, full of leftover gritty tea leaves, and she brought it out over the wooden porch and tipped it over. A parade of ants crawling near instantly smelled the drink and made their way toward it. At least now they wouldn’t crawl on her.

“Welcome to Republic City,” Asami said with a light, bitter laugh.

Korra sighed shakily now, and it caught Asami off guard. Glancing at her, she was relieved to find that Korra wasn’t crying, but she certainly was looking up at the moths now with her eyebrows peaked with sadness.

“A homeless guy was the first person to say that to me once I got here,” she said wistfully. She brought her hand up to her forehead and rubbed at her temples, shutting her eyes. “ _Homeless_. I didn’t even know that was a  _thing_  in the city.”

Asami remembered wandering around the city with her parents, being told not to stare or engage with the tattered men and women and children lining the streets. She remembered how unfair it felt, but she was a child and grew up in that environment. It wasn’t so shocking any more as it was equal parts depressing and infuriating.

Something crawled against her hand. Looking down, she saw that one of the ants didn’t go for the spilled tea, and decided to lightly walk across her skin. Rather than shiver at the feeling and smack it away, she gently lifted it between her fingers and set it on the porch, where it walked off to join the others.

She looked back at Korra to find her grimacing with her hand still pressing into her closed eyes.

“Hey,” Asami said lightly, and Korra opened her eyes. “You’re trying, alright? You’re a little late in the game but that hasn’t stopped you before. The fact that you care so much about the city and,” she gestured with her empty bottle up to the lantern. “Even those moths is really something, Korra. We’re all fighting with you, ok? Team Avatar.”

Korra’s face slowly pulled into a wide grin, and she shut her eyes again to rub her eyelids, before slowly dragging her hand down her face. Opening her eyes once more she smiled back at Asami a little tired, but grateful.

“Thanks, Asami. Good pep talk,” Korra said, downing the last of her drink, and the girl beside her laughed lightly. “If it weren’t Team Avatar, I’d nominate you as Captain.”

Asami stretched her arms before her, grinning as her back popped. “How about next pro-bending season, I just take Mako’s place on the Fire Ferrets?

“Deal. I’m sure Bolin would be down for it.”

They both laughed together and it was light and easy.


End file.
